A New Beginning
by BeautifulTears001
Summary: Now the fog has lifted and things in Inaba have returned to normal, Yosuke attempts to finish his last year of school. Only things have changed, and with only Kanji still hanging on as his friend, Yosuke is in desperate need of company. Will he find it in the form of new girl Arianna? Or perhaps Kanji will beat him to it? Rated M - Just in case.


**Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters or places except Arianna who is my own OC. Everything else belongs to Atlus and the creators of Persona 4.**

**Authors Note: Hi, this is my first time writing anything fan fiction like. I'v tried my best to edit all my grammar and spelling mistakes, but alas i'm only human. Reviews and constructive criticism are very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy! :) **

Chapter One

By definition, this had to be in Yosuke Hanamura's top 10 of shit days.

First, he had to run to school after waking up late and discovering his bike had developed a sweet little puncture mysteriously overnight. Second, he had found himself on the receiving end of a lecture on punctuality from a very unhappy principle and then given a report on his failing grades even though it was only the second week of his final school year. Third resulted in the long, tiring day of school in general, including a rather painful lunch experience due to Chie bursting at the seams with rage when Yosuke, innocently, ate some of her instant Raman without permission. Lunch had ended with him nursing his loins in the privacy of the nurse's facility, and he was sure they'd bruise.

Finally, the tipping point was discovering no one, not even Souji, had turned up for what was supposed to be the gang's weekly hangout day. Their table of Junes Department store, stood plain and empty. After Souji had convinced his parents to let him permanently stay in Inaba with the Dojima's, Yosuke was sure that the Investigation Team would continue to be as close as ever. However, none of the members made efforts anymore. The first few months of peace were fun, they had all hung out on a regular basis, going camping, fishing and swimming together, but as summer vacation descended upon them, the team seemed to disperse.

Naoto returned to her grandfather's to assist with an on going case elsewhere. Rise had returned to being Risette, promising to send tickets for her concerts and phone each week, but never quite managing it. Yukiko went into full time management training for her inevitable inheritance of the famous Amagi Inn, to which Chie had thrown herself into so as she could support Yukiko when the time arrived. Teddie in all his beauty and childlike mannerisms, had once again taken up his bear suit in order to return to his world now it was fixed, only popping over once in a blue moon because he missed his 'Sensei'. Kanji started studying and actually attending school so he could get a good job and help his mother. Sweet of him really, to think of his mother first. Kanji was the singular team member who still tried to stay in touch, probably because he was just like Yosuke, never having had friends before.

Then there was Souji, the one thing everyone on the team had in common was their friendship with him, but he had changed, grown distant. No longer was he Yosuke's partner, but a stranger he sat behind everyday in school. They barely spoke unless to be polite. Yosuke had once envied Souji even though they had proven themselves equal. Truth is Yosuke still was envious of Souji's luck with the ladies, his knowledge. Heck, Yosuke was envious of everything about him, something he had not felt since before their brawl.

None of it mattered anymore; the glue that had held them disappeared along with the fog and Izanami.

Thinking back over his former friends made Yosuke wince. Gone were the days of fun and unity. Gone were another set of 'friends'. He was alone, just like he had been when he'd first moved to this town. A hero of the world no more, but a loser with no purpose to point him in the correct direction.

Yosuke ruffled his dishevelled chestnut hair and shook on his headphones. The black leather felt smooth and comforting against him, the security was thrilling. Why worry when he could let the music distract him? Yosuke was very good at burying his head in the sand, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Just as his finger brushed over the play button of his ipod, a booming voice startled him.

"Senpai! Yo!"

Glancing to his left, Yosuke watched as Kanji Tatsumi, in all his glory, stormed over, scattering anyone within a 5 mile radius, stopping just before his seat to survey the abandoned headquarters before huffing in annoyance and dropping down.

"Sorry, s'bad day."

The blonde wrinkled his nose in disgust and turned his face away. 'Probably just as disappointed as I am' reasoned Yosuke to himself, before perking up and trying to cheer up the delinquent.

"Haa, just us again today, thought you weren't going to make it for a second though. Guess these meetings just don't fit everyone's time frames anymore and what wit-"

Kanji slammed his fist down onto the white Junes table and ground his teeth together. Yosuke jumped despite him self, and watched in silent shock as Kanji shook with anger.

"Cut the shit; stop making damn excuses up for them. They don't care. Now the case is finished, we got nothing left to say or do together."

Growling, he continued.

"Rise's _gone_. Naoto's _gone_. Teddie's _gone_. They just don't give a shit."

"Well Yukiko and Chie are busy with trainin—" Yosuke stammered. He only stammered when he was flustered or lying. It was obvious out of the two which was the correct answer here. Burying his head in the sand wasn't as easy when you had Kanji bellowing the truth to your face.

"Too busy my ass. Dickheads. That's what they are. Used and abused. We got nout left to offer them all. Stop frigging defending them all the time! Accept it; we ain't worth shit no more!"

Brown eyes met grey and realised it was useless to fight. Kanji was right.

Yosuke found the ground and he stared into it, hoping it would swallow him whole. It wasn't supposed to end like this, but it had. Acceptance was the key to moving forward.

Kanji was shuffling to his side, mumbling along as he composed himself after his outburst. Thankfully very few people had witnessed it, which lessened the embarrassment of his friend but still the over bearing truth was weighing them both down, like a ton of bricks.

Then it fell silent.

Looking up, Yosuke found Kanji observing a girl on the far side of the food court, sat calmly at a table eating what looked to be noodles. She wasn't in any school uniform, just a pair of stonewash jeans, black suede boots and a rather tight black tank top which emphasized her figure in everyway possible. Maybe she was a college student? Whatever she was, Kanji's whole attention span was focused on her.

"Kanji, uh, what are you staring at?"

No answer.

"Hello?"

Still no answer.

"OI!"

"I heard you the first time Senpai. I was just making sure it really was her"

Kanji pivoted to face Yosuke, and glared at him. Hoisting a thumb over his shoulder in the mysterious girl's direction, he continued.

"She's in my class. Some guys were bothering her about the whole no uniform thing but I made them scram. S'nice enough I suppose. Named Arianna. Even ate lunch on the field with me. Figured she'd need a friend, what with being the new girl."

Yosuke looked over at her to find her eyeing him with caution.

"Arianna huh? She's kinda cute."

In all fairness, she was. Kanji described her at Yosuke's insistence. In the end, he'd found out her eyes were pale blue, she wore little to no make up, had a rich chocolate brown head of hair, and was slightly more developed then most girls her age. "Even more than Rise's TV commercial body" was Kanji's exact words.

x-x

By the time the two had finished talking, Arianna was long gone and so was half of Junes. It was coming up to closing time, so Yosuke dismissed himself and started on his way home, with the image of Rise and Arianna's breast sizes lingering in his mind. Maybe he should go down to 2-2's classroom tomorrow, catch a glimpse of the new girl and see Kanji of course.

The wind blew a cool breeze down his neck causing him to shiver slightly. Turning the corner to the shopping district, Yosuke stopped mid step. Souji was talking to a random girl, and he had no interest in stopping for a casual chit chat with the 'partner' who'd threw him to the curb as soon as he was of no use. Deciding he'd take the long walk back, Yosuke turned on his heel and headed back towards Junes.

The walk home took a lot longer then expected. His head had been so full of bitterness and anger at seeing Souji, time had misplaced itself on his agenda. When Yosuke had finally walked through the front door, the first thing he saw was his fathers face wrinkled in fury. Another lecture, another extra shift. It was the same old crap, so by the time he had been left to disappear to his room; Yosuke was thoroughly not enjoying the idea of getting up and facing another day. Discarding his uniform and donning his favourite sweatshirt and pants, he crawled under his futon and closed his eyes. The mysterious Arianna swam before his eyes, laughing and smiling, and that in turn made him smile. Yes, tomorrow he would try to get Kanji's help with an introduction. After all, even if she just turned out as a friend, it was better then nothing.


End file.
